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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Photo of Saint Roch and his dog on the altar at St. Roch Chapel Cemetery, St. Roch is the saint of dogs and dog lovers. St. Roch was born in Montpellier, France with a red cross on his chest. He became an orphan at 20 years old and inherited the governorship which he turned over to his uncle. He gave away his fortune to the money and went a pilgrimage to Rome. During his journey he healed people in a town afflicted with the plague. He later fell ill and went into the forest to die. A dog discovered him and licked his wounds and brought him bread everyday. His health was restored and he went home to France where no one recognized him. They declared him a spy and put him in prison where he and his dog cared for other prisoners until his death. After his death, the people discovered the red cross on his chest and his true identity.

St. Roch Chapel Cemetery erected by Father Peter Leonard Thevis, pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church. The congregation prayed to St. Roch during the New Orleans yellow fever epidemic in 1868. All of the church members survived the epidemic after petitioning St. Roch. Father Peter Leonard Thevis built the chapel and cemetery in honor of St. Roch.

Thank You Room for Miraculous Cures

In a small room next to the altar are a collection of unusual items left by grateful healed petitioners.

A wooden hand left as a thank you for a miracle cure.

A wall filled with crutches and shoes from followers of St. Roch.

Prosthetics left by people healed from praying to St. Roch.

Thank you note written to St. Roch.

Prosthetic leg in the corner of the room

St. Rock Thanks

Thank You Stones on floor

View of St. Roch Cemetery and Chapel

Thomas, my Taxi Tour Guide Driver took me to the cemetery to see the little girl who turned to stone.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

I just received a warm and fuzzy feeling Christmas thank you letter from a German tourist that I met on the Chicago Blue Line. This thank you gesture makes my passion as a flight attendant travel blogger sharing travel tips more than worthwhile. I am an information person with the spirit of helping, so I love sharing my knowledge of getting around, places to eat, places to stay, and things to do. I rarely receive feedback about my travel tips. This is my Christmas thank you letter with photos that my new German friend and I took while riding the Chicago Transit Authority.

"Dear Janice,

I wish you a Merry Christmas and delightful days, a happy New Year and

a good start into 2013!

I wanted to thank you again for helping me, it was very nice to meet you.

The time in Chicago was wonderful. I have bought the 5 entrance tickets

that you have suggested me. The weather was very beautiful.

If it happened that you are in Germany I am inviting you to my house and family!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

On a recent flight from Houston to Chicago, I was working in First Class as the number one flight attendant. Three of my seven first class passengers were a family from England. A mother traveling with her son and his grandmother sat in the bulkhead which is row one our CRJ 700 aircraft.

The little boy was adorable, he asked for biscuits as soon as he was seated on the plane. Biscuits in British English means cookies, so I gladly obliged by giving him biscuit cookies. He happily devoured them, several of them. The sugar high kicked in and he started crawling of the floor. His mother wanted more cookies to pacify him, but I decided to serve them lunch instead of more biscuit cookies. He sat down to eat lunch for a few minutes. He nibbled on the cheese from the mini slider sandwiches. As I served lunch to the other passengers, I saw him out of the corner of my eye crawling around on the floor again. The mother and the grandmother were both drinking hot coffee which he could have easily spilled and burned himself. I told him it was time for a nap and grabbed a blanket and toy for him to settle down to sleep. Houston to Chicago is a 2 hour and 30 minutes flight which too long to have a child hiked up on sugar crawling everywhere. I prepared a bed on the bulkhead floor with blankets as a sleeping mat for him and sang "Brother John " to him in French. Next, he decided that he wanted to crawl into his mother's lap. Then, he fought the sleep and finally dozed off to sleep in his mother's arms giving all of us a much needed break.

This flight reminded me of my days as a Mom traveling internationally with a baby and toddlers on long haul flights. I will share some tips with you of how to make flying with little ones easier on the parents and the rest of the passengers.

Prepare your toddler for the airplane ride by creating a airplane game to practice sitting in a seat for the duration of the flight

My grandmother always believed in a giving a child sitting lessons in case you are in a restaurant and want to enjoy your dinner without chasing your child around the restaurant. This same idea applies to flying with children.

The Sitting Game

This is a project that may take a month or more depending upon your active child.

Most important, do not give your child any sugar snacks or drinks because sugar will cause them to be cranky or restless.

Begin with having your child sit in a chair for a few minutes a day. Try five minutes or less then the next day add a few more minutes until you reach one hour to two hours.

Children should be able to sit in a chair without watching TV or a DVD player because during takeoff and landing all electronic devices must be stowed away.

Another way to prepare your child for an airplane ride is to watch this video

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

We Blog the World, an online culture and travel magazine that focuses on off-the-beaten path cultural events and unique adventure and high-end travel experiences for discerning travelers, re-launched its new travel site today.

A global travel blog network made up of independent voices from around the world, the new travel magazine will add in-depth coverage of cultural events, including festivals. Geographically, We Blog the World has coverage on every continent in the world, including the best U.S. travel destinations, the top U.S. cities to travel to, the top European destinations, the best places to go in Asia, where to go in Australia and the Pacific, tips on traveling to South America, top things to do in Canada, hot spots in the Caribbean and where to go in Central America, Africa and the Middle East.

“The new site focused on global travel and culture, will capture ideas from untold and told travel stories for the discerning and well-traveled globetrotter who has already been to many of the most popular destinations in the world,” said Renee Blodgett, founder and editor of We Blog the World.

Events and Festivals:

While there are sites that list cultural events for a particular region, We Blog the World covers events on every continent. The expanded focus on Events and Festivals will include topics We Blog the World readers value, such as Arts, Culture, Music, Food & Wine, Entertainment, Green, Technology, Style and Women.

“Coverage of international events and festivals from a global perspective is fragmented and limited,” said Blodgett. “We provide comprehensive and in-depth coverage of unique global cultural events, as well as other things important to a successful travel experience.”

We Blog the World explores the human side of travel, from storytelling, human interest stories and unique experiences that shape the world today. Inspirational and life-changing stories will be told in the LIFE section through feature stories and a Q&A format.

“The site incorporates a community of independent voices from around the world who discover remarkable people and experiences and then share their unique perspective with readers,” said Blodgett.

Food & Wine:

For foodies and wine lovers, We Blog the World will continue to run fun and creative stories about food and wine, including events and festivals. Content will come in the form of restaurant reviews, farm-to-table experiences, interviews with chefs, unique recipes and food photography.

Lodging and Spas/Retreats:

The new We Blog the World will expand its global coverage of hotels, lodging, and resorts and has added a new section dedicated to retreats and spas. Independent voices will bring a human side to travel accommodation which may include an inside peak at the people who own the hotel or resort or those who make it tick.

Style:

The Fashion section has been merged with the new Style section, which will not only include creative and interesting fashion from different cultures around the world, but also style, which includes great design of products, places and things.

Women:

The Women section will feature women who are leading projects and building products and services for positive social change.

“It’s no secret that women are doing remarkable things and working in important initiatives across the world and so we want to highlight them – the untold unknown stories and some of the known ones,” added Blodgett. “As a woman entrepreneur and founder, I think it’s important to support other women who are spearheading projects and trying to get groundbreaking projects off the ground.”

This year, We Blog the World was a media partner of GigaOm’s Mobilize, Idea Festival, Tech4Africa, Mobile Loco, and the DEMO Conference. We Blog the World is also now hosting their site with Rackspace, a leader inenterprise-level hosting services for businesses of all sizes and kinds around the world. A very special thanks and kudos to the support, creativity and technical wizardry of those who helped with the relaunch of the site and kept things smoothly running along the way: Sky Schuyler, David Yip, Sonya Gey, Kelli Mutchler and Nathan Miller.

Monday, November 19, 2012

St. Louis Arch Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Left Leg of Arch is the site of Black Settler Jeanette Fouche' Home

As I have visited St. Louis many times over the years from teenage years onward; I have noticed many similarities between the two cities in terms of architecture. I guess you could say Chicago and St. Louis are kissing cousins. The term "kissing cousins" is an old southern term which means to look alike or similar. The phrase Chicago and St. Louis are "kissing cousins" expresses my belief that the two cities are similar.

Photo: Chicago Millennium Park

For example on a recent visit in the summer, I learned that the Forest Park Area is considered one of the best areas in St. Louis. It is known for for beautiful architecture from the buildings during the World Exhibition.

Photo: Chicago Du Sable Museum of African-American History

Chicago also has museums from the World Exhibition in the 1800's such as The DuSable Museum named for Chicago's first settler Jean Pointe Baptist DuSable.

Photo: Dred Scott Case Courthouse

I spend a great deal of my time as a flight attendant travel blogger during my layovers seeking out Black History. I guess it is because it is so hidden. For many years, African-Americans did not exist in the history of America. I seek the truth of the validation of the Black Experience in our history which has lead me to many discoveries.

Photo: Mississippi River

One of my most recent revelations is that Jean Baptist DuSable arrived from Haiti on the Mississippi River with Jacque Clay Morgan who is one of the founders of St. Louis. There was a storm that struck the boat as they crossed from Haiti to America. DuSable and Morgan were the only two survivors from the shipwreck. It was a twist of fate that they were they only two survivors but they also founders of two cities, Chicago and St. Louis. It is remarkable that the founding of Chicago and St. Louis are connected from the arrival of Jean Baptist DuSable and Jacque Clay Morgan.

Photo: St. Freedom Visitor Center Mural

Sometimes you must go elsewhere to discover the history of your hometown. This was my experience during my visit to St. Louis. Angie da Silva, my host and tour guide of my St. Louis Black History Tour informed me that Jean Point Baptist DuSable was born to French Nobleman and a slave woman. Actually Jacque Clay Morgan had a the background of being born to a White French Nobleman father and a slave mother. This fact is missing from the history taught in Chicago Public Schools history lesson about Jean Baptist DuSable. Angie da Silva also told me about this wife Catherine who was a Potowatomie Indian whose father gifted the land which is now the city of Chicago to Jean and Catherine for their marriage.

Photo: St. John Nepomuk

After twenty-five years of marriage Jean and Catherine traveled to St. Louis to celebrate their anniversary with a Catholic Wedding in a church. During their return journey back to Chicago from St. Louis, Catherine dies of influenza. Jean Baptist DuSable was heart-broken. Next his daughter also dies. He returns to St. Charles, Mo. where he lives with his granddaughter. A man persuades the granddaugheter to steal Jean Baptist DuSable's money and leave him. She does just that and leaves her grandfather penniless.

While the state of Missouri is seeking a residence for the governor, they negotiate a deal to care for Jean Baptist DuSable until he dies in exchange for his home which becomes the first governor's mansion of the state of Missouri.

Photo: St. Louis Arch

As I embarked on the tour of St. Louis, I did not realize that I would learn so much about the history of the founder of Chicago, my hometown. Yes, St. Louis and Chicago are indeed "kissing cousins" due to being intertwined through history.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Crown Fountains are one my favorite Chicago landmarks. I call it the Fountain of the two faces. There are two towers with multicultural faces that change. It reflects the diversity of Chicago. The Crown Fountains in Millennium Parks were designed by Spanish artist Jaume Piensa. The faces come from a cross-section of 1,000 Chicagoans. The water that spouts from the mouths of the faces derives from the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains. Open mouths with water flowing out represents a symbol of life.

Last few days of summer in Chicago with tourist at Millennium Park.

I love the diversity of the city.

Family time at the fountains.

Everyone runs to the fountain when the mouths pout water. Children playing in the water of the Crown Fountains.

I love the visual of the Crown Fountain Faces, especially the diversity of the faces.

A little Mexican girl with her dog at the Crown Fountain. They are both proudly dressed in the colors of Mexico.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

"On our first date, I treated her to the finest ice cream Baskin-Robbins had to offer, our dinner table doubling as the curb. I kissed her and it tasted like chocolate." President Barak ObamaFrom an Interview in O, The Oprah Magazine, Feb. 2007On this site President Barack Obama first kissed Michelle Obama

This is the most romantic gesture that I have ever seen by a man who truly loves his woman, POTUS. True love still does exist!

I read about this rock on The Grio. I just had to visit it, even without kissing partner in tow.

I have named this place "The Obama Kissing Rock". This act of love is so romantic to me. I can just see couples going there to celebrate and kiss on Sweetest Day, Valentine's Day, weddings, and anniversaries.

The "Obama Kissing Rock" is a 3,000 pound granite boulder located at 53rd & Dorchester in front of a Subway Shop that was once a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Shop.

My family and I frequented the Baskin-Robbins many times after school when my offspring attended Murray Language Academy which is a block away.

Dwele born Andwele Gardner is a Soulful Hip Hop Jazz singer, songwriter, record producer from Detroit , Michigan. He began playing the piano when he was 6 six years old. He later learned to play the trumpet, bass and guitar. The fatal shooting death of his father at age ten became the source of his musical creativity, Dwele states I learned to put my emotions into my music; it was my therapy." He lastest release "Greater Than One" drops today.

Kahil El'Zabar is a native Chicago Jazz Mult-Instumentalist Artist and Composer. He is infamous for composing the musical score to the Lion King on Broadway. He has formed musical groups Ritual Trio, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble. Kahil has collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Cannonball Adderley, and Paul Simon. Kahil El'Zabar is the Artist-In-Residence for the city of Bordeaux, France for the Elevation Project.

The 23rd Annual African Festival of the Arts Chicago #AFA2012 occurs Labor Day Weekend at 5100 South Cottage Grove in Washington Park from August 31st to September 3rd. Please visit www.africanfestivalchicago.com for more information.

Monday, July 23, 2012

We visited Sweetie Pie's on a Saturday at about 2 p.m. The line was out the door but moving. We watched people coming by the carloads. There were many out of state license plates. We talked to one woman in line who had drove 4 hours from Kansas City to dine at Sweetie Pie's. There were also many Cardinals Baseball fans who dropped before the game to get a bit to eat at Sweetie Pie's which is now a major tourist attraction.

1. Be patient. This is an outing for the day.

2. Wear comfortable shoes.

3. Look your best. When you enter the doors of the restaurant you agree to be filmed on their popular reality TV series Sweetie Pie's.

4. Be prepared to wait. Did I say that already? We waited to get in the door to discover more lines inside the restaurant.

5. Flash cameras are not allowed. Have a camera ready you may be able to get a photo with one of Sweetie Pie's Reality TV Stars.

6. Take some extra moolah with you to purchase a Souvenir Sweetie Pie's T-shirt.

10. Sweetie Pie's Menu Prices are not listed on their website. We chose 1 Chicken Dinner with two sides and 1 Catfish Dinner with two sides plus Sweet Tea and Lemonade for our drink selection and 2 Peach Cobblers for dessert. Our meal tab totaled $35 for two people for lunch on a Saturday afternoon.

Oprah's visit to Sweetie Pie's has put St. Louis Grove Area on the Map. Sweetie Pie's is a Reality Show on Oprah's OWN TV Channel.

"When Robbie Montgomery – one of the original back-up singers for 1960's soul duo sensation Ike and Tina Turner – toured with the band, she poured her creative gifts into her cooking as much as her singing. After the singing stopped, Robbie took her mother's soul food recipes, passed down through generations, and created the empire known as "Sweetie Pie's," St. Louis' iconic and wildly popular soul food restaurant run by Robbie and her dynamic family. Welcome to Sweetie Pie's follows the loud, loving and still very musical Montgomery family as they struggle with the demands of expanding their family-owned business, one soulful dish at a time."Sweetie Pie's At the Mangrovewww.sweetiepieskitchen.com4270 Manchester AvenueSt. Louis(314) 371-0304Have you dined at Sweetie Pie's?Related Articles:

"A restaurant called Verpilate's was built at 30 Pier Avenue in 1934, and it was converted into the Lighthouse, a bar, in 1940. ("Café" was added to the name only several decades later.) The club first began showcasing jazz music on May 29, 1949, when owner John Levine permitted bassist Howard Rumsey to start a recurring Sunday jam session on a trial basis. The experiment was a success. Rumsey became club manager soon after, and put together a house band called the Lighthouse All-Stars.
While the club also hosted visiting groups, the Lighthouse All-Stars became a noted ensemble in its own right, which had among its guest musicians Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan and Miles Davis. The longest-running members of the Lighthouse All-Stars were Bob Cooper (tenor saxophone), Conte Candoli (trumpet), and Stan Levey (drums).
West Coast jazz stalwarts Shorty Rogers, Richie Kamuca, Bud Shank, Shelly Manne, and Jimmy Giuffre were also regulars in the early days. Max Roach was the regular drummer for a while in 1953.[1] The club also became an important venue for recordings; Art Pepper, Lee Morgan, Cannonball Adderley, Don Ellis, Mose Allison, Ramsey Lewis, the Modern Jazz Quartet, The Three Sounds, the Jazz Crusaders,[2] and Joe Henderson all made recordings there.
The Lighthouse sponsored an inter-collegiate jazz festival late in the 1950s, and the competition's winners included Mike Melvoin and Les McCann.
John Levine died in 1970, and his family sold the club to Rudy Onderwyzer, manager and part owner of Shelly Manne's club, Shelly's Manne-Hole. Rumsey left the Lighthouse in the 1970s, and Onderwyzer sold it again in 1981. The new owners remodeled the club and mostly discontinued the jazz-music policy. From the middle of the 1990s, jazz began to come back to the club, first on Sundays, then two days a week."